Uproar Festival Review

Uproar Festival Review 

This summer I've been to so many amazing concerts, but I've found myself traveling great distances because some of the best tours are not coming to Detroit. Two in particular were Ozzfest and Uproar. I don't get it, Detroit loves rock and metal! The Mayhem festival sold out here and that's the same genre as these other ones. Why are we being skipped and why do I have to keep putting so many miles on my car?!

The drive to Columbus, Ohio for the Uproar Tour was worth it based on Avenged Sevenfold alone. The fact that so many other great bands played too was an added bonus. The line-up for the festival included; New Medicine, Hail The Villain, and Airbourne who played the second stage or rather the first venue of the day; the LC Pavilion. This festival ended up being in two separate venues due to ticket sales being higher then expected. The Nationwide Arena was a hop skip and a jump from the LC Pavillion and a where the heck are my tickets that are supposed to be at will call? They were not at the first venue when we arrived, which would of been the logical place for them to be.They were at the Nationwide Arena, after running back and forth in the heat and getting into the venues I was able to enjoy an amazing day of music. In the Nationwide Arena on the Main Stage the bands that played lit the arena on fire. Halestorm, Stone Sour, Avenged Sevenfold (they literally had flames reaching towards the sky with their amazing pyrotechnics), and Disturbed. 

My favorite performances at the first venue were Hail The Villain and Airbourne. Hail The Villain is an up and coming alternative metal band from Canada. You may have heard their song "Take Back The Fear," played on the radio. These boys are full of energy and put on a great live show. Airbourne are those wild Aussie rockers and their singer has a penchant for climbing things. During the show he succumbed to this pastime by climbing a wall next to the stage. He then walked balance beam style on a ledge before finally climbing down and running around some more.

For the Main Stage my favorites were Stone Sour and Avenged Sevenfold, both of these bands absolutely blew me away. Disturbed was great, but you'll have to excuse my disposition due to the fact that Avenged Sevenfold is my favorite band and I think they stole the show. (They did, it's true!) Corey Taylor of Stone Sour had his heart and energy at all systems go and blazed the stage with rock god status. He also let everyone know that their new album Audio Secrecy will be coming out on September 7th.

When it came time for Avenged to come onstage, I got chills. This is my eighth time seeing them and my first without 'The Rev'. There was a sadness in the air and you could catch glimpses of it in their eyes. Their performance and the fact that they are moving forward as a band is done out of love and respect for Jimmy. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater humbly plays the drums on this tour, he was one of 'The Rev's' all time favorite drummers.

Their stage setup was the biggest I've seen yet. Towering gates and brick pillars were set up as the entrance to a dark and gothic graveyard. The beginning of their set entered with full force dramatics. As we looked up above in the rafters there was a man standing there with a rope... He glances downward. Slowly and methodically he winds the rope around his neck. As the opening chords of "Nightmare" are struck, he jumps. (Don't worry this was all staged). This began our wild dark ride through Avenged Sevenfold's performance. They played a lot of songs off of Nightmare and their self-titled album Avenged Sevenfold. They also played "Beast and the Harlot" from City of Evil. The blood, sweat, tears, and dedication that these boys brought to life was felt by all and crushed the arena. The blazing pyrotechnics got our hearts pounding along with their 'Synyster' brand of metal. After their set I was energized and in awe of how this band has come so far and never fails to put on an amazing show.  

RIP Rev we miss you!

For more info on the Uproar Tour visit http://www.rockstaruproar.com/